Are dealer only parts any cheaper at a Dodge dealer than a Mercedes dealer?

bcolins

2004 158" Vista Cruiser
Wondering if anyone has tracked prices on dealer only parts at both a Dodge and a Mercedes dealer and if so, if you found they were generally about the same,...or if they were cheaper at the Dodge dealer?
 

marklg

Well-known member
It seems to depend on the part. Some parts are discontinued at Dodge dealers and only available through MB. You better know the part you need and both the MB and Dodge part numbers. Both can look up by VIN, but Dodge does not seem to be aware of mid model changes as much so may give you the wrong part. I have a local Dodge dealer that is cheaper if you order online and select local pickup than if you just walk in, for the exact same part.

So, I would suggest you check online for both dealers and compare cost and delivery and make your decision on a part by part basis. Europarts SD and some others also get genuine parts from MB and sell for less. I assume they get a discount to the trade and pass some of it on to you. I've found some of the OEM equivalent parts that are supposed to be from the same sources MB uses are not exactly the same.

Regards,

Mark
 

Patrick of M

2005 T1N 2500 (NA spec)
Mark makes a good choice point. I haven't had that experience with Dodge, but absolutely do with Volvo. If I order find my parts online for local pickup I then have no shipping costs for the parts and it's also whatever online price is applied at the dealership even though over the counter it would be more. Even better, the in-store parts guy usually can't find the fairly obscure parts I want but if I supply him with the number and the online price from Volvo Canada, that's what I pay. In the case of Volvo they insist only certain stores can be used for pickup of online orders, so because those stores are far away from me I go into a local Volvo dealership and get the same online deal at the parts counter.
 

Alphacarina

2006 Itasca Navion 23H
MB faster and cheaper, also not incompetent and rude. Montreal, Canada
Thank heavens we don't all live in Montreal!!

All the Dodge dealers there are slow, incompetent and rude . . . . and they charge more than Mercedes dealerships. That's certainly not how it is in the rest of the world, again, thank heavens!

Don
 

Patrick of M

2005 T1N 2500 (NA spec)
Thank heavens we don't all live in Montreal!!

All the Dodge dealers there are slow, incompetent and rude . . . . and they charge more than Mercedes dealerships. That's certainly not how it is in the rest of the world, again, thank heavens!

Don
I don't know about all Dodge dealers, just the one near my house and the other one near my shop. As far as MB is concerned, I have only used Silver Star on Decarie, I have heard bad things about the MB service center on the south shore, so perhaps my center is uniquely pleasant (sadly they moved the parts counter from the sales floor/no more free expresso, bagels and cream cheese :( )
 

lindenengineering

Well-known member
Again dealerships are only as good as the folk that work in them.

Dodge is no exception, and now that these two brands have parted ways more than ten years ago, the parts catalogs only cover so many year variants up to the split .
Dodge pricing matrix's are always above MB's, and some product lines have been moved to collector car status meaning prices are now 100% over MB price levels for the same item.

I used to use a Dodge dealer a lot as an emergency stop gap, as they are a block way from me, but stocks have dwindled to almost zero, so I buy fewer and fewer parts from them for Sprinter products .

The other big issue is the parts catalog itself.
The MB catalog is difficult to navigate as a Dodge parts man so its a hiding to nothing for them.
So reception as customer "handling" can be a bit prickly.
Of course I have known almost all of the guys in the Dodge parts department for more than 20 years so the dialogue is often what I call :cool: friendly American abusive comical workshop banter!
Like Hey you Limey, WTF do you want now. ?
You won't find that friendly down home American reception at an MB dealer !

Really it is what makes the USA great --people with sense of Dodge humour ! I love it !:thumbup::thumbup:

Really your best bet though is to garner a relationship with an MB dealer.
Dennis
 
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bcolins

2004 158" Vista Cruiser
Again dealerships are only as good as the folk that work in them.

Dodge is no exception, and now that these two brands have parted ways more than ten years ago, the parts catalogs only cover so many year variants up to the split .
Dodge pricing matrix's are always above MB's, and some product lines have been moved to collector car status meaning prices are now 100% over MB price levels for the same item.

I used to use a Dodge dealer a lot as an emergency stop gap, as they are a block way from me, but stocks have dwindled to almost zero, so I buy fewer and fewer parts from them for Sprinter products .

The other big issue is the parts catalog itself.
The MB catalog is difficult to navigate as a Dodge parts man so its a hiding to nothing for them.
So reception as customer "handling" can be a bit prickly.
Of course I have known almost all of the guys in the Dodge parts department for more than 20 years so the dialogue is often what I call :cool: friendly American abusive comical workshop banter!
Like Hey you Limey, WTF do you want now. ?
You won't find that friendly down home American reception at an MB dealer !

Really it is what makes the USA great --people with sense of Dodge humour ! I love it !:thumbup::thumbup:

Really your best bet though is to garner a relationship with an MB dealer.
Dennis
Thanks Dennis. I called my local MB dealer this afternoon,......not a Sprinter dealer,...so they referred me on to the local Freightliner dealer or the not so local MB/Sprinter dealer,....about 20 miles away. Called the local Freightliner dealer, and found that the parts guy was actually very willing to assist,...ordered a few parts and will bring him the van next week so he can see where the other item I want is located, as he was unable to find it when looking at the MB Microfiche system. At least he is willing,....and actually closer to me than the local MB store.
 

jrod5150

Well-known member
I would think freightliner would be the most expensive. With Mercedes and dodge I don’t even bother to ask them for the part by name. Everything is done with part numbers. Overall Mercedes is cheaper but there are some dodge parts that for some reason that beat mercedes price wise. My personal experience of both is as Linden replied. They are as good/bad as the people that work there. I don’t think a Benz dealer needs to sell sprinters to order sprinter parts. My main go to dodge dealer will not service sprinters even though the service manager and I have been friends for 20 years :ROFLMAO:. For parts dodge is still my go to. They appreciate my business. mercedes won’t do dick beyond what they are supposed to and TRP parts are more trouble then they are worth. Mercedes wants a dna sample to order a key blade:rolleyes:
 

pfflyer

Well-known member
Locally Freightliner is about 30% cheaper. The dealership doesn't have free snacks and a plush waiting room. They have seats taken out of a bus in the waiting area for customers to sit on.
 

bcolins

2004 158" Vista Cruiser
Anyone found online parts microfiches where I can find the Dodge, Freightliner, or MB part numbers for what I need?
 

jrod5150

Well-known member
Anyone found online parts microfiches where I can find the Dodge, Freightliner, or MB part numbers for what I need?
There’s a post on this site that has a link to the parts diagrams and there also one to convert dodge part numbers to mb and vice versa. It’s a great resource
 

autostaretx

Erratic Member
As Keith wrote, the T1N parts catalogs can be found here: http://diysprinter.co.uk/reference/
You'll also find service manuals (files with "SM" in their names) and diagnostic manuals.
In this folder: http://diysprinter.co.uk/reference/T1N_service_scans/
You find many many scans of pages from the dealer's T1N Training Manuals ... deep dives into the subsystems.

As for where to find parts: Freightliner is still owned by Daimler (i.e. MB) .... unlike Dodge they don't have to "buy" the parts as an outside company ... they order from the same central supply depots. They also understand commercial customers: where a dead van is lost income.
It's up to the individual dealerships to determine how much mark-up they apply to the wholesaled parts.
((i'm a little surprised they're using microfiche ... but that might also mean they're behind in their price escalations, too :thumbup:))

--dick
p.s. "back in the day" when i worked for a living, i used to offer the field service reps that came through to fix my stuff a quiet room with desk, coffee and doughnuts so that they could "catch up" on getting their microfiches up-to-date.
They'd leave ... and i'd grab the room's wastebasket.... thereby building up a very well-stocked microfiche library of my own.
 

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